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'I'm Not Sure I Understand' -- How Apple's Siri Lost Her Mojo (wsj.com)
Apple has struggled to make Siri as smart as Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa because of disagreements among its staff and its decisions to limit how long it stores user data, former Apple employees told The Wall Street Journal. The company unveiled a new version of Siri during its WWDC keynote address on Monday but failed to show the world how it's much better than competing products from Google and Amazon (alternative source). There are a few areas where blame can be placed. The Journal said Apple keeps data for only six months while Google and Amazon continue to hold on to it, learning more and more about specific users as they continue to use the personal assistants. From a report: Some former executives, close observers and even devoted customers say Apple's innovative power appears to be waning, stymied by a lack of urgency and difficulty bringing ideas to fruition. In nearly six years under Chief Executive Tim Cook, Apple's stock has soared but the company has not delivered a breakthrough product on par with the string of hits under late founder Steve Jobs, which included the iPod, iPhone and iPad. "Siri is a textbook of leading on something in tech and then losing an edge despite having all the money and the talent and sitting in Silicon Valley," said Holger Mueller, a principal analyst Constellation Research, a technology research and advisory firm.
Siri is useful in the car when you want to do simple things: send a text message, play music (you can name), answer simple questions or set reminders/calendar dates. I can't say I've used Siri in any other context: in most environments talking bothers other people, so I try not to talk.
My parents have amazon echo, and I haven't really found a use for it in the house except to play music I can name. I'm not sure what else I *would* do with these things. In all other cases I'd rather be quiet and push buttons on my phone. Turning off lights and what not is a feature I always forget to use and usually forget to set up at all... the only time its useful is in bed at night, and I don't really want any further spying in the bedroom for a number of reasons.